


untuned ukulele

by outerspacetae



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Depression, Developing Friendships, Falling In Love, Friendship/Love, Gay, Gay Male Character, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 05:00:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9641729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outerspacetae/pseuds/outerspacetae
Summary: broken skin and incongruous tunes.





	

Ukuleles; an uplifting instrument. When played, it sounds breezy and airy. Well,  _most_ ukuleles.

 

Tyler stood at the curb of Capitol Hill and Nower Circle, strumming furiously at the ukulele chords as his fingerpads stung and bled. He sang words from the worn blue notebook at his feet, singing about trapdoors, forests, and glowing eyes. Nobody seemed to notice him - the people roaming the streets walked right by him, unaware that a man was screaming words and breaking the skin at his fingertips. Tyler continued to sing, though. He did this daily, now. Unfortunately, he didn't get any credit or recognition for his beautiful talents. One time, an elderly man stopped walking and stood in front of him, listening to Tyler's raspy voice as he sang. The man had a sweet grin on his face as he held his hat to his chest. Holding the hat in one hand, and digging through his coat pocket with the other, he pulled out some spare change and placed it gently into Tyler's ukulele case.

Ever since then, Tyler has been singing on the streets that filled with shops and restaurants. He'd sing until people kicked him out, until people complained, and until people took his money. The people who took his money were usually never confronted - as nobody noticed. Even though Tyler was being stolen from, he said nothing, did nothing and heard nothing. 

Tyler's ukulele was  _very_ untuned. He had never heard a tuned ukulele before, as he grew up with very little spending money and never got the chance to buy a chromatic tuner. So, he now plays by ear and goes with whatever he hears. To everyone else passing by, he sounds atrocious, but to him, he sounds... _okay._ Today, Tyler still has very little money and uses music as a career. He works alone on the streets, playing for others and himself, hoping to get some people to drop change into his ukulele case and give him a smile that says, 'everything's going to be okay.'

On the days where he'd saved around $50 or so, he and his neighbor would go to the local convenience store and buy cigarettes, some food, and water. They'd talk and light each other's cigarettes, getting more and more addicted to the nicotine with each breath.

___

It's Monday - everyone's most hated day in town. Across from Tyler's apartment was his neighbor, Brendon, a 29-year-old man who usually spent his days drinking, smoking, and paying Tyler's electricity bills. It was six in the morning, and Brendon was already woken, sipping coffee while staring at his desktop computer screen, squinting to read fine text. He was quiet, lightly humming tunes from time to time. Tyler, on the other hand, was sleeping uncomfortably in his creaky, twin-sized bed. He wakes up at 7:45. Brendon is still typing away at his computer, with his second cup of coffee. 

Tyler rubs his face and runs a hand through his fluffy hair as he stepped onto the cold hardwood floor. He's shirtless, only wearing a pair of black jeans (which are very uncomfortable to sleep in) from the night before. Walking barefoot to the bathroom, he turned on the shower water and undressed. He stood under the showerhead, letting the steaming water hit his face and strike off his shoulders. He cleaned his hair with the very little amount of shampoo that was left in the bottle and quickly washed his body with the dissolving soap bar. 

Once he was done, he shut off the water and dried off. He brushed his teeth and got dressed, wearing a blue hoodie and jeans. Grabbing his ukulele from the case, Tyler walked out of his apartment, closing and locking the door behind him. Walking at a reasonable pace, he walked to the main streets of the town and started strumming. The cuts on his fingers were not healed, and strumming did not help at all. The chords now dripped with blood, and Tyler's fingertips were now stained with it. He continued singing, though, as he felt the pain slowly build up.

A man with a snap-back and pink, featherlike hair walking by slowly stopped, and looked at Tyler. He mainly looked at his bleeding fingers, slightly terrified by all the blood. He shuffled his hand in his pocket and rummaged for a band-aid or something like that. He found nothing but a few dollars. And so, he walked to the local convenience store and bought some.

The man walked back over to Tyler and placed the box of band-aids into his case, looking up at Tyler as he did so. Tyler chuckled a bit to himself and kneeled down so his face would be level with the man's face, and looked at the box. 

"Thanks," Tyler said, smiling a bit. The man nodded, opening the box of band-aids and handing it to Tyler. 

"...how'd your hands get cut up like this?" The man asked.

"From strumming so much," Tyler responded. "I don't have that strong of skin on my fingers, I guess." Tyler opened the band-aid and wrapped it around his wounded finger, pressing down on it gently so it'd be secure. The man watched as he did so.

"What's your name, by the way?" Tyler asks.

"Dun," The man responds. "Josh Dun."

"Josh, huh," Tyler says back. _Where do I recognize this guy from?_

"I'm Tyler."

Josh goes to shake his hand but stops when he notices that blood was still dripping from Tyler's hands. Josh laughs nervously and stands up. Tyler continues to wrap his fingers and then stands back up once he's done. He places his ukulele in the case. Josh is a bit clueless, wondering why he stops playing all of a sudden. 

"...you're gonna stop playing?" Josh asks. "Why?"

"Can't play with wrapped fingers, can you?" Tyler responds. 

"Oh," Josh says, feeling dumb. "Right."

Tyler grabs the white lighter from his back pocket and pulls a cigarette out from the pack. He lights it, then holds it in between his index and middle finger. Breathing in and exhaling the smoke, he looks at Josh.

"Want one?"

Josh quickly shakes his head. "No, I'm good."

Tyler wasn't expecting that answer. If he asked Brendon if he wanted one, he'd always take up the offer. _Was Josh afraid to try it, or something? Has he even tried to smoke before?_ Tyler asked himself. He was quiet for a bit, then moved the cigarette from his mouth and nodded. 

"Alright," He said, zipping up the ukulele case and holding it by the handle. "See you later." Tyler started to walk. Josh was really confused at this point - why would he just walk away in the middle of a conversation? _That's kind of strange_ , he thought. 

 

___

Tyler walked up the steep stairs of the apartment complex and knocked on Brendon's door. He waited a bit, then looked up to see another man open the door - someone other than Brendon.

"Can I help you?" They asked.

"...where's Brendon...?" Tyler responded. Once Tyler said that he heard shuffling, and then footsteps quickly walking towards the door. There he was: shirtless Brendon. 

"Hey," Brendon said while walking over to the two men. "Need to talk or something?" 

Tyler nodded, trying to avoid eye contact with the other man who was standing next to Brendon. Brendon then turned to the other man, lightly whispering something into his ear. Something like, 'can you come over in a little bit?' 

The other man looked aggravated as he sighed and nodded. Brendon flashed a sweet smile at the man and patted him on the shoulders. The man brushed him off and started walking towards the exit of the building. Tyler looked at him, then Brendon, as Brendon's smile faded.

Tyler walked inside Brendon's apartment, feeling quite puzzled as Brendon pulled two bottles of beer from his refrigerator. 

"Who was that?" Tyler asked. Brendon unscrewed the cap on one of the bottles and took a sip, then handed the other bottle to Tyler.

"Ryan," Brendon responded. "We used to hang out all the time."

Tyler opened the bottle that he was just handed. "You did?"

Brendon nodded. "Yeah. He came over today, for some reason. It started leaning in a different direction than I intended it to."

Tyler looked at Brendon. "...did you guys have sex or something?"

Brendon sheepishly smiled a bit to himself. "Almost."

Tyler whistled, then sipped his beer. "Damn, Bren."

Brendon's cheeks went a bit red, as he tapped his fingernails to the side of his glass beer bottle. 

"Y'know, before, when Ryan and I hung out a lot," Brendon said. "We were just friends...at least that's what I told others."

Tyler nodded. "Didn't Ryan leave that band of yours, though?"

Brendon sighed and nodded. 

"Yep. That's when we stopped talking to each other," Brendon responded, then quickly changed the subject. "So, what'd you do today?"

"I met this nice guy," Tyler said. "He bought me bandages."

Brendon smiled and then noticed Tyler's bandaged fingers.

"What'd he look like?" Brendon asked, sipping his beer.

"He had pink hair," Tyler responded. "And a sleeve tattoo."

Brendon placed his beer back down on the table. "Sleeve tattoo, huh?"

Tyler nodded slowly. "What about it?"

 

"He just seems like a cool guy. Did he have piercings?"

"Yeah. Gages."

"Badass," Brendon said.

___

The next day rolled around, and Tyler was still at Brendon's apartment. Ryan hadn't shown up all night, which saddened Brendon a bit, but didn't bother Tyler at all. Tyler was playing his ukulele and singing tunes about dying and suicide. Brendon didn't mind the out-of-tune chords - he let Tyler play whatever he wanted, and Brendon didn't criticize it badly at all. In fact, he encouraged Tyler to play whatever he wanted to play and to play whatever made him feel happy or relieved. Whatever floated Tyler's boat. 

"Hey, Bren," Tyler said, as he stopped strumming.

"Yeah?" Brendon asked.

"Shouldn't you go see that Ryan boy?" Tyler responded.

"Oh! Right! I should!" Brendon exclaimed, quickly getting up. "Thanks for reminding me!" He said, running out the door. Tyler chuckled a bit to himself and walked out the door as well. He walked down to the shops, where he usually plays. To his surprise, someone was already there: Josh. He was sitting there, texting someone. 

"...Josh?"

He looked up. "Oh, hey, you're here!"

Tyler was a bit confused. "Yeah."

"I was waiting for you to come here so I could hear you play your ukulele."

Tyler's cheeks got a bit red and he smiled. "Really?" 

Josh nodded. 

Tyler sat next to him and started to play a song that he hadn't written. He sang 'Can't Help Falling In Love' by Elvis Presley. 

"Wise men say..." He started to sing. "Only fools rush in..."

Josh listened to him, smiling. He loved Tyler's voice and his untuned ukulele - even if others despised it. 

And this went on for days, like a routine. Tyler would sing and play, and Josh would listen. Until one day, Josh brought a bucket and drumsticks. Tyler looked at him and smiled.

"Can I play with you?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, of course!" Tyler exclaimed.

And so, Josh and Tyler played songs together, Josh incorporating his own drumming patterns into Tyler's songs, and surprisingly, they sounded great. They played together daily now, and now people notice them - they notice them, hear them, and like them. People crowd around them sometimes, clapping for them after they sing. Tyler's hands were still cut and covered in bandages, but he now plays with one of Brendon's old guitar picks so he doesn't have to use his fingers to strum anymore. They even had some fans that asked to take pictures with them or even asked to have something signed by them. 

A few weeks had passed since Tyler and Josh started playing together, and Tyler hadn't played or sang for weeks. He didn't drink or smoke or even talk to Brendon. He hadn't spoken to Josh. He was just alone, in his apartment, sleeping all day and all night, skipping meals regularly and reaching a bottle of water that was placed on his bedside table from time to time. He was completely broke, apart from the $3 in his coat pocket. The only thing keeping him alive in that apartment complex was Brendon, paying his bills and giving him money whenever he needed it.

Someone knocked on Brendon's door that evening, and it wasn't Tyler or Ryan. It was Josh. Brendon opened the door and looked at him. He studied his figure, noticing the sleeve tattoo, the gages, the pink hair - everything that Tyler had described him as. 

"Uh, hi...are you Brendon Urie?"

Brendon nodded. "The one and only."

Josh smiled nervously, feeling the social anxiety kick in. "D-Do you know where Tyler is?"

Brendon looked at the ceiling, then back at Josh. "Haven't seen him in awhile. You?"

"No, I haven't seen him in days..." Josh said. 

"That's concerning..." Brendon mumbled, walking past Josh and opening Tyler's apartment door.  _He forgot to lock the door...?_ Brendon thought. Brendon walked inside, as Josh followed. He looked around, looking for Tyler. 

"...Tyler?" Brendon called out. "You home?" 

Brendon checked the bathroom first. Completely empty. He checked everywhere, and couldn't find him. Well, he  _thought_ he checked everywhere. Josh walked into his bedroom and found Tyler curled up in his bed, looking pale as ever. He rushed over to him, and lightly placed his hands on Tyler's side.

"Tyler...? Please wake up..." He said, looking at Tyler's figure, and noticing how thin he's gotten since he saw him last. Tyler's eyes were closed, but he was still aware of what was happening around him. He groaned and shut his eyes tighter.

"Come on, Ty...you've been asleep for a long time, haven't you?" Josh asked. Tyler didn't respond, but he turned, so he was now facing Josh. He lightly opened his eyes. 

"Can you get up, please...?" Josh asked. Tyler tried to, but he fell back onto his side. He feels weak - he hasn't eaten in weeks. Josh looked at him and his pale skin. He gently picked up Tyler and walked over to Brendon. 

"He needs to eat, Brendon," Josh said. Brendon looked at Josh, then at Tyler.

"Alright, we'll bring him to one of his favorite places to eat," Brendon responded. "Taco Bell."

___

Tyler had been staying at Josh's house for the past few days so Josh would know that he was eating regularly and was healthy. 

Josh was watching TV on the couch, and looked up to see Tyler standing in front of him.

"Hey, Josh," Tyler said. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"Keeping me alive," Tyler responded.

Josh smiled a bit and nodded. He opened his arms and hugged Tyler. 

___

Years later, Tyler and Josh are playing their biggest live show yet: Madison Square Garden. And Brendon's first in line. 


End file.
